American Civil War

Election of 1860

4 Person election between: Rep. Abe Lincoln, Northern Dem. Stephen Douglas, Southern Dem. V.P. John C Breckinridge, and Constitutional Union: John Bell. Democratic Party splits due to slavery = Lincoln wins election.

Secession

to leave the Union/United States of America.

Fort Sumter

1st engagement of the civil war. Federal fort in Charleston, SC. Lincoln did not want to give up or defend it just resupply with food. SC holds chances to either permit resupply or fire.

Confederate States of America

7 states of the deep south secede after Lincoln's election and 4 more of the Upper south follow after Fort Sumter.

Jefferson Davis

1st and only president of the Confederate states. Who had little authority. He did not have the power to tax.

Border states

Union controlled slave states (Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and West Virginia).

Robert E. Lee

Commander of the Confederate forces throughout the Civil War.

Copperheads

Northerners who wanted to break away with the South.

Conscription

The Implementation of the military draft. North Union.

Habeas Corpus

an arrested person must be brought charges within 48 hours and in front of a court/judge to hear their crimes.

War of Attrition

A style of warfare that is harsh and the only way to win is to outlast the opponent, wear them down over time.

The Anaconda Plan

Proposed by Windfield Scott which included: U.S navy blockade of southern ports to cut off essential supplies from reaching the South. Divide Confederacy in 2 by taking control of the Mississippi. Take over Richmond, VA.

Cotton Diplomacy

The confederacy attempts to coerce France and Britain to support them.

David D. Farragut

Union navy captain who captured New Orleans.

Ulysses S. Grant

Union general of the West who captured forts along the Mississippi helping cut the Confederacy in 2. Eventually made commander of all forces in the East in 1864. Goal was to outlast Lee with a war of attrition.

Battle of Antietam

September 1862 was the bloodiest single day battle of the American Civil War. In the entire battle 22,000 people died in one day.

Emancipation Proclamation

January 1,1863 freed slaves in rebellious states.

54th Massachusetts Infantry

First official African American unit for the North.

Clara Barton

She sent out nurses to assist in military hospitals and she later formed the red cross.

Andersonville Prison

Worst and most notorious of the Confederate States of America prison camps for the Union Prisoners of War.

Battle of Gettysburg

The turning point of the war. Bloodiest Battle of the War. Never again would the south have a chance to win the war or threaten the North. 50,000 people died.

Gettysburg Address

It was a dedication ceremony.

William Tecumseh Sherman

Was a union general and commander of the union army. His biggest drive was from Chanugo to Atlanta and Atlanta to Savannah.

Sherman's March to the Sea

Sherman takes his entire army and spreads them out and divides his army into 2 in a wall formation to Savannah. They looted the plantations and homes and burned everything down and slaughtered their livestock.

Total war

Sherman's 'total war' in Georgia was brutal and destructive, but it did just what it was supposed to do: it hurt Southern morale, made it impossible for the Confederates to fight at full capacity and likely hastened the end of the war.

Election of 1864

In the United States Presidential election of 1864, Abraham Lincoln was re-elected as president.

Appomattox Court House

April 9, 1865 Surrender of the Lee's Confed army and the unofficial end of the war.

John Wilkes Booth

Actor and southern sympathizer who assassinated Lincoln during a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.